Imperiused
by AccioHorcrux
Summary: Harry and Ron are off in search for the horcruxes, leaving Hermione at Hogwarts. Draco Malfoy is given a chance to redeem his failures as a deatheater by staying at Hogwarts. Post-HBP. EWE. .:HGDM:. Rated T for language.
1. The Kids From Yesterday

Title: The Kids From Yesterday

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned Harry Potter, I would be called JK Rowling. I'm not. Get the picture yet?**

A/N: For convenience's sake in the story, Snape is deceased and the scene where he died in DH has already happened. In my opinion, it would be impossible for muggle-borns to stay in Hogwarts with Snape as headmaster, especially not such a high-profile muggle-born like Hermione. I will be writing in two third-person perspectives for this chapter, Draco and Hermione. It should be fairly clear who is who. This is only the first chapter so it is fairly short. The next chapters will be a bit longer. This is my first ever Harry Potter fanfiction, so please be kind! I'll save the other things I have to mention at the end.

Enjoy!

_All changes are more or less tinged with melancholy, for what we are leaving behind is part of ourselves._

_-Amelia Barr_

_Malfoy Manor, Draco Malfoy._

"The Dark Lord is displeased with you, Draco. Crucio! " Lucius Malfoy spoke, casting yet another Cruciatus curse on his son. Draco lay on the floor writhing silently in pain. He already knew he was a coward, yet he willed himself not to make a sound.

He knew that he had failed, yet strangely enough, he was relieved. Ever since he had been tasked to kill Dumbledore, he had dreaded the moment where he would have to look into Dumbledore's lifeless eyes and live with the guilt that he had been the one to cause it. In his years at Hogwarts, Draco had never especially liked Dumbledore, but he saw him with respect and was aware of his wisdom. So many years ago, if someone had told him that he was going to have to kill Dumbledore, he probably would have laughed in that person's face. Dumbledore was too strong a wizard to be killed. Of course, that person turned out to be Voldemort, and Draco had no intention of laughing at _him_.

At the very start, Draco had been excited at the prospect of being a Deatheater and serving the Dark Lord, but the idea of killing a person was beyond his comprehension. Yes, he admitted that he was a bully, but he was not a killer. Not yet. When it turned out that the Dark Lord was a half-blood himself, he did not understand why all these respected pureblood families were blindly following him and felt greater reluctance to carry out his mission.

Draco was consoled plainly by the fact that he had not been the one to do the deed, but at that very moment, he was not feeling very consoled. He had failed the Dark Lord, and in turn he had failed his family. He did not know what the Dark Lord had planned for him, but he hardly wanted to think about something like that. After all, his own father was already punishing him. Was he going to use the Killing curse on him? Merlin, Draco did not want to die.

"Crucio!" Lucius cast the curse one more time, before lowering his wand.

"Get up, Draco. Showing such weakness is unbecoming of a Malfoy."

Draco painfully lifted his aching body from the ground and watched his father stroke his chin thoughtfully. He said nothing, waiting for his father to speak.

"As you are well aware of, you have failed in your mission to kill Dumbledore. Luckily for you, Severus managed to savage your failures by doing your job for you and even pleaded with the Dark Lord in your case to give you another chance. Undoubtedly, he was killed right after for possession of the Elder Wand. The Dark Lord is currently occupied and has tasked me to assign your mission. Keep in mind that this is your last shot to redeem yourself in the Dark Lord's eyes. Do not fail me again."

Draco nodded cautiously, dreading the details of his next mission.

"Other than key personnel and of course, Harry Potter, Weasley and the mudblood, no one at Hogwarts is aware of your mission and it is to remain that way. We have received information that Harry Potter and Weasley are not returning to the school and are leaving the mudblood behind. Under any normal circumstance, we are to assume that she will be aware of what they are planning, and you will be tasked to get close to her-"

"What? You want me to get close to her?!" Draco was astonished. He had nothing against Granger besides her being a muggle-born and being anything close to an acquaintance with her was the last thing he wanted.

"Do not interrupt me, Draco. You are neutrally speaking, to ally yourself with her to get information about the whereabouts of Harry Potter."

"How do you propose I, _ally_ myself with her? We can barely keep up a conversation without an argument."

"The solution is simple. We cannot risk you messing up again, hence the Dark Lord has agreed to let me use the Imperius curse on you to ensure that you will follow orders and play the part of the mudblood's_ friend_ accordingly."

Widening his eyes in shock, Draco tried to refuse.

"No! You-you can't take my free will away! I will fight it-"

"Imperio."

Draco's world went dark as a mist of peacefulness seeped through him, bringing him into a euphoric state.

_The Burrow, Hermione Granger._

"No! You can't just go off and leave me here! We're meant to be friends, Harry! Friends don't leave friends behind!" Hermione couldn't believe what Harry was saying. How could he ever expect her to be all right with him and Ron taking off to search for the horcruxes and leave her at Hogwarts, using the excuse that it was too dangerous for her? If Ron was going, why couldn't she?

Sighing in frustration, Harry answered.

"Look Hermione, I didn't want to play this card, but you gave me no other choice. With both Ron and me gone, we need you to stay at Hogwarts to hold the fort. With Professor McGonagall as headmistress, the muggle-borns get to stay at Hogwarts, but we both know it's not the safest. The muggle-borns will need as much protection as they can get. Besides, you won't be alone! Ginny, Neville and Luna are all going to be there."

As much as she hated to agree with this, Hermione had to admit that what Harry was saying made sense.

"All right, Harry, I get your point. But, we have to keep in contact. I can't live with myself not knowing if you are safe, knowing that the two of you are running around searching while I'm safe here."

"Believe me, Hermione, that staying in Hogwarts is just as dangerous, if not more. Be careful."

"You too, Harry. Come back safe."

Moving forward to give Harry a hug, Hermione whispered in his ear.

"Take care of Ron, will you?"

Nodding, Harry back away. "You should go say goodbye to Ron, too."

Hermione didn't know how to feel about Ron. Strangely enough, although she felt worried about Ron going off with Harry, at the same time she was relieved. After having to deal with all that drama with Lavender, Hermione was getting tired. She did have feelings for Ron, but when she saw him, she felt nothing. No butterflies in her stomach, no fireworks in her heart, nothing. All those novels that she had read so long ago had described love as such an intense feeling, where the only person you could see was your significant other. With Ron, she felt comfortable, but completely normal. She constantly told herself that it was just because she was used to Ron, that it was typical to no longer feel that rush of excitement. When Harry had announced his plans, Hermione felt relieved to have a break from Ron to sort out her feelings. For that, she felt guilty. Guilty towards Ron, and guilty because love was the last thing she should be thinking about at a time like this. War was inevitable, and she had to be prepared.

As she opened the door to enter Ron's room, she heard the familiar voice of an annoying girl. _Lavender Brown. _What was she doing here? As she stuck her head into the room, her mouth dropped. Ron and Lavender were snogging, or trying to, at least. From what she could see, they seemed like they were eating each other up. Shocked and hurt, Hermione gasped and hurriedly shut the door to hide under a staircase. She could hear the sounds of Ron and Lavender jumping apart, and Ron's voice as he yelled, "Bloody hell, Hermione, I can explain!" The door opened yet again and from where she was, Hermione could see Lavender glare at Ron before lifting up a hand to slap him across his face. Ron's face expressed shock; he clearly had not expected it.

Spotting her in her hiding spot, he called out to her. "Hermione, please, I-I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me to call Lavender over."

Hermione had no idea what to say. She felt hurt, yet she didn't feel the heartbreak. Why didn't she feel the heartbreak? Wasn't Ron supposed to be the One? As a normal girl who was supposed to be in love with Ron, she knew she should be saying something along the lines of "You called her over?!" but she didn't feel the ache. In fact, she felt no strong emotion at all. Why was that? This was all so very confusing.

"Ron, we're not together, so it doesn't concern me who you snog with. I just came over to say goodbye, but it looks like you're busy so I'll leave. "

Lavender was standing behind Ron, her eyes shooting daggers at Hermione.

"How could you do this to me, Won-Won?! You asked me over here and here I am, only to see _her_ here! In a fit of anger, she grabbed a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace.

It was just the two of them now. Ron looked like he was still trying to find the right words to say, but before he could speak, Hermione started.

"Ron, I really don't care who you snog, I'm just here to say goodbye and goodluck. And well, be careful, all right?"

Stepping forward, she planted a kiss on his cheek and repeated the actions of Lavender, reaching over to grab floo powder, stepping into the fireplace before Ron could say anything.

"Wait, Hermio-"

Ron's face disappeared in the flames.

She entered the familiar surroundings of her home, her mother obviously not expecting her back so soon, was cleaning a vase and dropped it to the ground in surprise when she saw Hermione step out of the fireplace. Hermione's stomach dropped. There was one more thing that she needed to do. There was no way you-know-who was going to let off her parents. She had to keep them safe, and to do that she had to leave their lives completely, as though she was _never even there_ in the first place.

Waving her wand at the shattered vase on the floor, Hermione cast a spell. "Repairo!" The pieces of the vase joined back together and flew into her hands. She carefully handed it back to her mother and called for her father to join them. Before they could speak, she moved behind them and lifted her wand.

"Obliviate!" 

A/N: I have read up quite a bit on the Imperius curse and it is not mentioned if Occlumency has any effect on it. In this story, I will be giving my own take on the curse but rest assured, it will be pretty true-to-book. I am just filling in the gaps where there are questions about the curse. Story progression will be slightly slow at first but it is for good reason. If you have any questions, ask away. If you don't, please review! I might just be pointing my wand towards you, ready to Imperio you just in case you don't!

See you in a few days x


	2. The Sharpest Lives

Title: The Sharpest Lives

**DISCLAIMER: I Ari, you JK Rowling. I own nothing. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. (Get the Tarzan reference? No?)**

A/N: Hello again! I apologise for the lateness of this chapter. I'd planned to edit it and post it 2 days ago, but I've been absolutely swamped with school work and tests this week. I only read over this a couple of times, so if there are any errors, I'm sorry about it. In this chapter, we're back to Hogwarts! As a note, this chapter is in Hermione's point of view, in third person. I'm still having problems figuring out line breaks, so please be patient with me while I try to fix it. I'll keep my begging for reviews for the end. :P

Enjoy!

"_Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad." _

― _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_

She could do it. Right now, her main priority was the war. She could keep her emotions in check and find her parents after all of this was over. If all of this would ever be over…

**Hogwarts, Hermione Granger.**

Entering the Great Hall of Hogwarts, Hermione could feel the gloomy mood as though it was an actual presence. None of the ghosts seemed excited for the school year to start, and the absence of a certain headmaster brought a complete damper to the atmosphere. Never again would she watch him start off the new school year with a feast again, and the thought of such a constant presence in her life being gone brought tears to her eyes. She noticed the obvious small number of students that were in the Great Hall and even lesser number of muggle-borns. Not many muggle-borns had wanted to return to Hogwarts with the news of Voldemort's rise spreading like wildfire.

The Great Hall's physical appearance looked much the same, but it was not. The chandeliers were all lit, yet the Great Hall had never looked darker. The long tables had a feast already laid out, unlike other years when Dumbledore would be the one to start the feast.

Ginny was not a morning person and was probably skipping breakfast, so Hermione had to find a seat alone.

Hermione was about to take a seat when professor McGonagall called for attention. Without Dumbledore and Snape, the professor was the acting headmistress.

"Students, welcome back to another year at Hogwarts!" She was unusually enthusiastic.

"In lieu of some… recent unwelcome news, I feel that it is important for all students to be united, regardless of house or blood." She emphasized the last words, scanning the Great Hall to ensure that all eyes were on her. They were. Just about every member of the wizarding community knew about Voldemort, pureblood or muggle-born. The students were surprised to hear Mcgonagall speak so openly about the situation and their eyes were all glued to her face.

Well… except a certain blonde-haired slytherin.

Hermione could spot him staring at the wall behind Mcgonagall, looking as though he wanted to be anywhere but there. She felt her anger rise, seeing his face again. She knew all that he had done, and even if he hadn't killed Dumbledore, he might as well have been. Malfoy was the reason why Dumbledore was put into such a situation in the first place. If only Malfoy had accepted Dumbledore's help…

At this point, Hermione was openly glaring at him. Draco either didn't notice, or pretended not to. Probably the latter-Malfoy was piercingly observant, Hermione would give him that. Why was he even allowed into Hogwarts? He was a deatheater, for Merlin's sake! Was McGonagall insane?

Resisting the urge to march over in front of the entire student population and demand for Draco Malfoy to leave, she forced her rational side to wake from its slumber. Maybe McGonagall had a reason for keeping Malfoy in the school. She would have to inquire about that later. She focused her attention back on McGonagall, who was still speaking about the situation.

"As I mentioned earlier, it is of utmost importance that all houses are bonded and united during these trying times. Hence, we have decided that in order to promote inter-house unity, the sitting arrangement for the houses will be abolished and students do not have to sit with their respective houses. We greatly encourage everyone to take a seat outside of your own house."

There were numerous mutterings over this. No one knew what to expect from this change of sitting arrangement. There were those who were pleased, but there were also students who were not willing to mix with people outside of their own house.

With great reluctance, McGonagall spoke again, this time from a piece of parchment that was clearly a script.

"To add on to the security issue that I spoke about before this, the Ministry has demanded for dementors to be petrolling the hallways to ensure that no students are outside their rooms after 11. I expect all students to take this very seriously, I'm certain everyone knows the consequences of a dementor's kiss."

Cries of protests were heard among a couple of first-years that were without a doubt, terrified of dementors. Hermione was pretty certain that she would be able to get past the dementors, having the knowledge of a patronus charm. The rest of Dumbledore's Army knew it, too. However, her positive thought came too soon.

"To tighten security in the school, all wands in use will have to be registered, meaning that all the spells cast by your wands will be closely monitored. This rule goes out to all staff as well."

The news had the entire student body breaking out in numerous arguments, but nothing they said would change the rules, obviously. The only person not displaying any extreme emotion was Malfoy, who was casually twirling his wand with his fingers.

"That is all. Let the feast begin!"

All the students started moving, either to the tables of different houses or their own. Hermione immediately went towards to the area where all the teachers were seated.

"Professor McGonagall, may I have a word?" She asked.

"Of course."

Being straightforward, Hermione went for her question straightaway.

"Why is Malfoy here? After what he did… how can he still be allowed in Hogwarts? His father is a deatheater, he's one, too!" She was trying to keep her cool, but speaking about what he had done was agitating her.

McGonagall seemed to consider her words for a moment before speaking.

"Hogwarts welcomes any student who is willing to learn. To prevent any commotion from spreading through the students, the staff has decided to have Mr Malfoy return to complete his school year. At a time like this, we cannot have the students worried about their safety here. The staff will be watching him carefully, so rest assured that he will not be able to harm the other students. The news of his doings last year has been kept extremely private and will remain confidential, is that understood, Miss Granger?"

In spite of her reluctance to accept what McGonagall had said, Hermione had to admit that it was true. The wizarding community was in enough chaos right now, there was no need to have the students worry, too.

"Yes, professor."

"Go and have your meal, then, Miss Granger."

As Hermione went to take a seat alone at her usual Gryffindor table, a very unwelcome presence appeared next to her.

"Malfoy, what do you want?"

After her conversation with McGonagall, the last person she wanted to speak to was Malfoy.

"I was just going to sit here."

Hermione widened her eyes at that.

"Why would you do that? I'm a mudblood, remember? Besides, there are so many more seats here, go sit with someone else. Your followers seem to be missing you." She pointed over to the Slytherin table, where Crabbe and Goyle were completely distracted by their food. The only people who seemed to have noticed them were Blaise and Theo, both their eyes wide open as they stared at Hermione and Draco.

Gesturing in their direction, Draco wrinkled his nose.

"That is exactly why I'm not sitting at the Slytherin table. I'd much rather sit with someone who openly sneers at me than a noisy mob of Slytherins on the first day of school. About the mudblood thing…" He lowered his voice. "…_I'm sorry_ for calling you that."

The only thing that could shock Hermione more than Draco Malfoy sitting with her her for breakfast was Draco Malfoy apologising to her. About blood superiority!

What is going on…

Sighing in resignation, Hermione gestured to the seat opposite her.

"Fine then, Malfoy. Do what you want."

She shifted her focus back onto her breakfast, desperate to finish it so that she could leave for her first class. Advanced Potions, with the Slytherins, of all people. With both Harry and Ron gone, she had no one to partner with during Potions.

Feeling a pair of eyes staring at her, Hermione looked up to see Draco observing her.

"The way you eat seems as though you are trying to leave as soon as you can. Why is that?" He asked thoughtfully.

"Isn't it obvious? I've got to get to class."

"Hmm… I've got Potions, too, and it doesn't start for another 30 minutes. Why would you go to class this early?"

"Can't I get there early to get ready?" Hermione was getting impatient with him and his fifty questions.

"Oh, right. Typical Granger, right? You need to get to class way early to prepare yourself for being a brown-nose," Draco replied, winking. It was obvious that he didn't believe her. Nevertheless, he stopped talking and returned to eating his food.

Hermione had had enough of speaking with him. As she turned to leave, she heard Draco speak.

"See you in Potions, Granger."

Hermione made it to Potions with plenty of time. Professor Slughorn was already there.

"Miss Granger, good to see you after the break! I trust you had a relaxing time. Potions is going to be quite difficult this year."

Hermione nodded politely. As always, she had already done extensive research on all the potions that they would be practicing for the school year but actually making the potions was a completely different experience.

"I enjoy a challenge, professor."

"I ventured that." A voice spoke. Turning around, Hermione saw Draco stand by the doorway, looking uncharacteristically amused.

"My favourite Slytherin!" Professor Slughorn smiled as he saw Draco.

Looking at the two of them, the professor seemed to have an idea that would not bode well for either of them.

"The both of you are extremely talented students. Just imagine what you could accomplish if you were partnered! It's settled then, the both of you will be partnered for Potions this year."

"WHAT?!" Both of their voices groaned in unison.

"Professor, please, I do not wish to-" "I don't want to be partnered with-" For the first time ever, Hermione and Draco were both in agreement.

"No buts. Class is starting in a few minutes, get your textbooks out!"

At least she had a partner now, Hermione thought.

As all the students walked into the Potions classroom, they all had a double take when they saw Draco and Hermione sitting side by side. The two people who had hated each other since the start of their time at Hogwarts were actually partnered; that was huge news at Hogwarts.

"For the first lesson of the year, I thought that we should start with something simple, as a recap from last year. Today, you will be practicing the Draught of Living Death. The best pair gets 50 points for each of their houses. Get to work!"

As Hermione hurried to get started with making the potion, Draco grabbed her arm. It was surprisingly warm – She had expected his touch to be ice cold. Nevertheless, she recoiled away from him. She didn't want him coming anywhere near her, let alone touch her arm.

"Granger, I realise that the both of us are not on the best terms, but if we have to work together in Potions, so be it. Don't go messing around in this; it's as much my grade as it is yours. Is that understood?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes. This was unexpected of Malfoy. He had hated her since First year purely because she was muggle-born, yet now he was suggesting a truce for their Potions grade? He must really care about his grades. With parents like Lucius Malfoy, Hermione was not surprised. If she was being honest, Draco's grades had always been second only to hers throughout all their years at Hogwarts and she was not too surprised to see him suggest something like this. He seemed like someone who cared about his grades.

"All right, then. I was just about to suggest the same thing."

They then got to work.

~ END ~

A/N: Opinions? Please? I know I ended this at quite a boring part, but the next part will hopefully be slightly more exciting! Thank you for over a hundred views for the first chapter as well as the follows and favourites, but it would be absolutely amazing if you could review this! Reviews are truly a source of motivation for me to write faster as well as for improvement. I'll give you a hug if you review this. Don't you want a free hug?

Anyway, thank you for reading this chapter and I'll be back with the next one hopefully soon. I'm having exams in slightly over 20 days so I'll be writing like crazy so I can continue updating throughout that period.

xxx


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